Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

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The Blog for Thursday, August 18, 2011

Are Bondi's political contributors catching breaks?

"It has been a rough month for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. She faced criticism in late July for the forced resignations of two attorneys leading the state's foreclosure fraud investigations."

Then last week, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Spark released a 16-page diatribe accusing the office of failing to aggressively pursue foreclosure and consumer protection cases.

"The people of the State of Florida are entitled to fair and honest government, independent of personal connections and powerful interests, and I have decided to speak out," Spark wrote. He quit the next day.

Democrats are seizing on the controversy, turning what Bondi has characterized as issues with subpar, disgruntled personnel into political embarrassment by calling for independent investigations and introducing legislation aimed at Bondi's office.

Among Spark's revelations: Two top lawyers left Bondi's office to work for companies under investigation, and when he launched an examination of the advertising practices at Tampa's Ferman Motor Cars, his supervisor noted that Robert Shimberg, who helped raise money for Bondi's campaign and served on her transition team, is Ferman's company attorney.

"This appears to be a small case, but the target is a very prominent Tampa business and their long time counsel is Robert Shimberg," wrote Richard Lawson, director of the AG's Economic Crimes Division, in an e-mail after Spark received approval to investigate Ferman. "You should be aware of this in case the AG has any questions. If the case develops into something more significant I will advise accordingly."

A short time later, Spark's direct supervisor suggested that the case be settled by allowing Ferman to resolve the advertising question with fine print.

"Florida is getting older – according to U.S. Census figures, older populations have been growing in Florida over the past 20 years. Projected figures show that 27% of Florida’s population could be over 65 years old by 2030." "Infographic: Aging in Florida".

Does the Rickster read newspapers?

"In January, the freshly inaugurated Gov. Scott was asked by reporters if he read Florida papers. "No," he answered."

"The Scott administration has embraced a new transportation plan that calls for an increased use of toll roads. The first project announced is a $291-million project that is the first part of a proposed outer beltway in the Jacksonville area. " "State announces major new toll road for Northeast Florida".

Mike Thomas: "The latest Rick Scott assault on all that is good and holy is his vivisection of the state's water management districts. He slashed their taxes, whacked their budgets, lowered their credit ratings and sent their job-killing bureaucrats packing." Thomas continues, saying

wish I could say the two water districts overseeing our region — the South Florida and St. Johns — didn't have this coming.

"While Congress struggles to rein in the nation's deficit spending, many Florida consumers are successfully paying down their credit-card debt and their home mortgages. Credit counselors are seeing a steep decline in household debt over the past year, as anxious consumers try to reduce their vulnerability to the economic slowdown. After decades of borrowing and overspending, many Floridians now appear better prepared to withstand another recession if there is one."

A nationwide survey released Thursday indicates that credit-card debt in Florida remains high but has dropped sharply. Credit Karma — a nonprofit debt-management group that surveyed those seeking its services — said average credit-card balances in Florida declined from $7,726 in July 2010 to $6,442 last month. In addition, the average mortgage dropped from $174,309 a year ago to $161,785 last month, though student-loan debt rose.

"A for-profit charter school management company that operates a school system larger than a majority of Florida's public school districts is busing its employees to Orlando Thursday for a rally to kick off the new school year. It's an expense that public school systems facing a budget crisis say they wouldn't even consider in light of funding cuts from the state Legislature." "Charter school rally today to attract thousands, Gov. Scott".